First Ceylon Independence ceremony – Colombo, 10 Feb 1948

4 February 2013 — Nalaka Gunawardene

Feature article published in Ceylon Today broadsheet newspaper on 3 February 2013

http://nalakagunawardene.com/2013/02/04/vishva-karma-of-ceylonfirst-independence-celebration/

First Ceylon Independence ceremony – Colombo, 10 Feb 1948, painted by H R Premaratne

Although Ceylon gained Independence on 4 February 1948, the formal ceremony took place on February 10 with the Duke of Gloucester representing King George VI of Britain. The impressive ceremony was held at a colourful Assembly Hall at Torrington Square in Colombo.

When it was confirmed that Ceylon was soon to be granted independence, the country’s rulers wanted to build a new meeting hall in Colombo for the occasion. But there was just no time.

Then somebody had a bright idea: convert an aircraft hanger – a relic of World War II — into a temporary but grand hall. The task required both engineering skills and familiarity with the country’s traditional arts.

This extraordinary responsibility was entrusted to a talented engineer in the government’s Public Works Department. His name was Hapugoda Rankothge (H R) Premaratne.

The department, better known as the PWD, was one of the largest and oldest government departments in Ceylon with its history going back to 1796. Before the proliferation of state bodies, it maintained public infrastructure, key government buildings and airports.

Even among the PWD’s experienced fixers, however, Premaratne was a rare breed – one who blended technical functionality with good design sense and fine aesthetics rooted in the country’s cultural heritage.

Colourful transformation

Veteran journalist D B Dhanapala, in his book Among Those Present, recorded it thus: “H R Premaratne had converted an enormous, ugly aeroplane hanger left behind by the RAF at Torrington Square into a veritable Palace of Pageantry. Kandyan ‘Reli Paalams’ by the hundred, each the size of a bridge turned into a solid rainbow, spanned overhead turning the ceiling into the finest riot of colours this Island had ever seen on a single occasion. Sinhalese designs, writ large, blazoned from all the pillars, themselves richly decked…”

Dhanapala was full of praise for the man behind this transformation: “It seemed the palace was some kind of new Oriental Valhalla transported into Ceylon by a new electroplated Vishva Karma working with all his hands…”

The hanger was solidly built, but decorating this high-roofed structure was indeed a mammoth task. Some 20,000 yards of white cloth, and nearly 20,000 yards of colour paper were used for the ‘reli paalam’ alone. Another 9,000 yards of jute Hessian covered up the ceiling.

H R Premaratne

Adding to the décor were ancient Sinhalese (lion) banners, Nandi flags from Jaffna, as well as cultural motifs that represented the muslims. At that time, such an inclusive approach was a matter of routine.

Having pulled off this small miracle, Premaratne didn’t stop there. In those days before colour photography, he was determined to capture the moment for posterity. So he drew a full scale oil painting of the occasion.

Decades later, this historic painting was purchased by President J R Jayewardene who added it to the art collection at the President’s House in Colombo where it is still on display (main photo).

The stately assembly hall was the most talked about structure prepared under Premaratne’s overall supervision during those hectic months. He helped renovate several key buildings as well.

Chief among them was the Colonial Secretary’s residence ‘Temple Trees’, originally built in the early 19th century, which soon became the official residence of the first Prime Minister D S Senanayake.

Premaratne restored a condemned postal structure into the Senate Building, and renovated the inner chamber of the State Council building at Galle Face to accommodate a larger number of members elected to the 1947 Parliament.

“We added a floor, and altered seating arrangements in the chamber,” he reminisced in an interview with me in 1990.

Those key renovation and restoration projects had to be done on parallel tracks, while chasing seemingly impossible deadlines.

“We worked day and night. We had a very good chief architect, a Welshman named Wynn Jones. It was shortly after the War, so some construction materials were in short supply. But in the end, we completed everything in time and in quality,” he said.

Shaping New Nation

Premaratne was a member of the British qualified and nationally minded team of technocrats who took over Ceylon’s affairs when the British left. Along with the elected representatives, they shaped the young nation — yet remained, for the most part, in the background.

After graduating with a BSc in civil engineering from the University of Edinburgh in 1931, Premaratne joined the PWD in 1935 as a Junior Assistant Engineer. In all, he spent 30 years there, capping his career as its director from 1957 to 1965.

During that time, he rose to many and varied challenges, combining the roles of engineer, designer, administrator and trouble-shooter at large.

The massive Dry Zone floods of August 1957 took place within weeks of his becoming Director of Public Works. PWD was the first to go to Batticaloa, as soon as the flood waters allowed, and within hours made the main roads accessible again.

When ethnic riots erupted in May 1958, Governor General Sir Oliver Goonetilleke assumed direct control appointed Premaratne as Competent Authority in charge of all relief operations. Working with civilian and military personnel, Premaratne set up temporary shelters for the displaced, ensuring their safety and providing amenities.

If that was demanding, more was to follow. One day Premaratne received urgent summons from the Governor General. In the presence of the minister in charge Maithripala Senanayake, Sir Oliver revealed how the Nagadeepa temple (a key Buddhist shrine on a small island off the Jaffna peninsula) had been damaged during riots.

Premaratne was asked to urgently repair it – but in utmost secrecy. The astute Sir Oliver knew that this news, if it spread, could provoke a new southern backlash.

Operation Nagadeepa

“Sir Oliver arranged everything directly and discretely. Even my ministry’s secretary wasn’t told. Within hours, the Air Force flew me to Jaffna — I couldn’t tell even my wife where I was headed. Once there, the Navy escorted me. I met the Nagadeepa chief priest, and realised the damage was considerable,” Premaratne recalled.

Returning to Colombo after two days of assessment, Premaratne moved swiftly. He assembled a team comprising a contractor, building overseer and some trusted workmen and embarked on a fast-tracked restoration.

While they carried out that task in record six weeks, Sir Oliver used the media to repeatedly pooh-pooh ‘rumours’ ofNagadeepa being damaged. (D B Dhanapala’s biographer Gunadasa Liyanage believes that Sir Oliver actually took key newspaper editors into confidence. Either way, it never leaked.)

Mission accomplished, Sir Oliver organised a special pooja and invited devotees to ‘go see the intact Nagadeepa temple’. Everyone involved in the operation remained silent – not under any oath of secrecy, but because they realised the implications of loose talk…

The real story of Nagadeepa restoration didn’t come out until many years later. Such a covert operation is inconceivable today with modern communications technologies!

After retiring from the public service in 1965, Premaratne devoted all his time to artistic pursuits. He copied key temple paintings and Sigiriya frescoes. He also developed a method of making authentic fibreglass replicas of moonstones, Buddha statues and other historical artefacts.

Using this method, he made over 20 replicas of prominent statues of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa for an exhibition on ‘Ceylon Through the Ages’ the National Geographic Society organised in Washington DC in 1969-70.

Recommended by his friend Arthur C Clarke, he spent a few months at MGM studios in Borehamwood, London, during 1966-67 where Clarke and Stanley Kubrick were filming their movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

“Prema’s expertise in art and engineering was very valuable in the production of the movie’s special effects, and he assisted in building the spectacular space station,” Clarke said. (See: The artist who built a space station for 2001)

Premaratne was an erudite, soft-spoken man who remained creative into his 80s. I am privileged to have known him in his last few years. Some of his paintings are on permanent display at the National Art Gallery in Colombo and at the British Museum in London.

H R Premaratne tribute in Ceylon Today, 3 Feb 2013

H R Premaratne tribute in Ceylon Today, 3 Feb 2013 continued

Independence Day, February 4, 1948

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth presides over the ceremonial opening of the third session of the Parliament in April 1954

British defeats in Europe and Asia during the 1940-1942 period of the Second World War-epitomised by the humiliating fall of Singapore-turned out to be the final blow to the country's already floundering Empire. Military and economic power, on which the imperial system depended, had been severely eroded. And on a political level, from the end of the First World War unrest and agitation for independence had begun to manifest in many parts of the Empire, exemplified in the then Crown Colony of Ceylon by the Trotskyist-inspired Lanka Sama Samaja Party.

Consequently, in the immediate post-war years independence was granted to many countries within the British Empire. In South Asia, India gained independence on August 15, 1947. Burma followed on January 4, 1948, and exactly one month later, on February 4, Ceylon became a Dominion, which in reality meant that the country had not completely divested itself of its colonial past.

Independence Day, February 4, 1948
Declaration of Independence was an occasion in which a member of the British monarchy, not necessarily of the higher echelons, was always present. "Slightly less prestigious representatives of the Queen than Prince Philip and Princess Margaret, but perfectly respectable ones, were the stalwarts of independence ceremonies," comments Philip Murphy in Monarchy and the End of Empire (2013). "The Duke of Gloucester [Prince Henry], the younger brother of King George VI, presided over the independence day of Ceylon."

The choice of the Duke of Gloucester was an appropriate one as he had made two prior visits to the Island. The first was in 1929 when he landed on his way to Japan. The second in 1934 concerned cultural heritage: the return of the golden throne of the Kandyan Kingdom (previously housed at Windsor Castle), now displayed at the National Museum, Colombo, together with the crown and regalia.

Fortunately the ritual and celebration of Ceylon's Independence Day was captured on film by the leading newsreel company, British Pathé. Ceylon Independence (1948)-alas without narration online-begins with the touch down at the Royal Airport Katunayake (now the Bandaranaike International Airport) of a silver-liveried RAF Avro York carrying the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. One York was used by Winston Churchill as his "flying conference room" during the war. And this aircraft was no stranger to Ceylon; another served as the "flying office" of Lord Mountbatten, head of South-East Asia Command in Kandy, and a squadron was based at RAF Ratmalana.

The film shows the Gloucersters being greeted by the Governor of Ceylon, Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore, who at Independence became Governor-General, which illustrates how the country's freedom was not yet absolute. Ceylon remained a dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations from 1948 to 1972, when the country's formal name was changed to the Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka. In 1978 it was modified to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

On the morning of February 4 the Duke was driven, with a vanguard of mounted soldiers, from Queen's House to the specially prepared, fabric-roofed Assembly Hall to deliver the Declaration of Independence from a dais overlooked by two sets of elephant tusks. It was hot inside: the select audience busily fanned themselves with programmes, while a vast sea of ordinary Ceylonese surrounding the hall stoically endured the tropical sun to witness this historical occasion.

“Independence Day Celebrations In Ceylon Resembled An Imperial Fête With A Few Of The Artifices Of The Nation State – National Anthem And Flag”
Today, within an area called Independence Square, renowned for its atmosphere and jogging tracks, stands the Independence Memorial Hall, a monument to the Assembly Hall built on the original podium. Adjacent is the awesome newcomer to Colombo's shopping complexes, the Arcade Independence Square, which, ironically, is a restored British colonial building.

Nora Wickramasinghe, in Sri Lanka and the Modern Age, feels that "Independence Day celebrations in Ceylon resembled an imperial fête with a few of the artifices of the nation state - national anthem and flag." The confirmation of these two artifices came next. Just before noon the Union Jack was lowered. As a recording of London's Big Ben chimed noon-courtesy of Radio Ceylon-the nation's new yet traditional flag, the lion rampant, was hoisted by Prime Minister D S Senanayake. During the flag-hoisting, the selected National Anthem, Sri Lanka Matha, was played by the radio station.

At that moment a nation with a glorious history and depth of culture, suppressed for five centuries by three consecutive colonial powers, was able to begin an awakening, to rediscover its past, re-establish an identity, emerge from the imperial shadows, and take its place in the modern world.

Celebrations later that day centred on an impressive water pageant in Colombo's harbour, which included a choir on a floating platform. "The boom of guns, the crash of fire-crackers, the peal of bells, and the whine of ships' sirens proclaimed the birth of the new dominion of Ceylon," declared the Associated Press.

Independence: The Awakening of a Nation
On February 4, 2015, Sri Lanka celebrates 67 years of Independence. There have been many achievements during that time in the economy, civil administration, social services and development in general. Other accomplishments, mostly in the arts and sport, are due to the post-independence exposure of the Island's people to the world, resulting in a new confidence on the international stage.

For instance, the new nation's ability to compete with the world's best was witnessed at the 1948 Olympic Games in London, just a few months after independence, when Duncan White won the silver medal in the men's 400-metre hurdles. Silver was also won by Susanthika Jayasinghe in the women's 200 metres at Sydney in 2000.

But where sport is concerned, it is cricket, a colonial irony, which has brought Sri Lanka immense recognition since international status was gained in 1981. The team quickly shifted from being underdogs to world-beaters, winning the Cricket World Cup in 1996 and the 2014 ICC World Twenty20. Sri Lanka has produced some iconic cricketers: Muttiah Muralitharan was voted the greatest bowler ever in 2002, and Kumar Sangakkara is one of the greatest batsmen of all time. Many other players have made an impact on the game internationally: Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, and Mahela Jayawardene come to mind.

The blossoming of modernist post-independence art in Ceylon resulted in the formation of the '43 Group by Lionel Wendt, the Island's first and foremost photographer of international repute. This Group consisted of an extraordinary array of creative painters such as Harry Pieris, Geoffrey Beling, George Claessen, Aubrey Collette, Richard Gabriel, George Keyt, L T P Manjusri, and Ivan Peries. Their work is acknowledged internationally, their paintings highly valued.

Sri Lankan cinema properly began in 1956 with the film Rekawa, directed by Lester James Peries. From then until 2006, Peries directed 28 films, many shown at premier film festivals, many receiving awards. Nidhanaya (1972), Peries' best film, won a Silver Lion at the 1972 Venice International Film Festival, was selected as an outstanding film of the year at the London Film Festival, and chosen as the best film of the first 50 years of Sri Lankan cinema. Peries, best appreciated by French cineastes, was awarded in 1997 the Légion d'Honneur, France's highest order. He remains the doyen of Sri Lankan cinema, but in recent decades further talented directors-Prasanna Vithanage, Asoka Handagama, Dharmasena Pathiraja, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake-have begun to receive international recognition.

These are just a few of the Sri Lankans who have honoured the country with their international achievement since, and largely because of, Independence.

http://www.serendib.btoptions.lk/article.php?id=1612&issue=62#image-4

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The day that changed the destiny of a nation-February 4, 1948 :

By Dhaneshi YATAWARA

The ceremonial opening of Sri Lanka's first Parliament at Independence Square on February 10, 1948

The first Independence Day

With renewed hope, Sri Lanka would be celebrating its glorious 63rd Independence Day in another five days. It is the second Independence Day in a terrorism-free country. The event marks not only the defeat of the nearly 133 years of British rule, but also the remarkable sense of living in a truly peaceful country. There is a new awakening and stirring among Sri Lankans; the pride of silencing one of the most ruthless terrorist groups in the world while some powerful nations with all resources at their command are still grappling with terrorism.

Commenting on the independence we gained in 1948, certain scholars have written that freedom was achieved without shedding a drop of blood.

When taking the freedom struggle into consideration, this however, is doubtful. It seems to be a little far from the truth. If not for the independence we gained in 1948, we would never have developed to the level that we are today.

Just two years after the last Sinhala Kingdom came to an end, people of the Kandyan region started rebelling against the British rulers. Several other regions such as Dumbara, Matale, Hewaheta and Sabaragamuwa joined in the uprising which reached a peak in Uva-Wellassa. Since 1818, the freedom-loving sons of Sri Lanka, both clergy and laity, had been spearheading the freedom struggle at great risk to their lives.

Moneravila Keppetipola Dissawa, who served the British as one of the high local officials, also joined the rebellion. The then Governor Sir Robert Brownrigg called in reinforcements as the rebellion became more intense. The British, to control the uprising, destroyed hundreds of acres of paddy cultivation, burned villages and killed many Sinhalese, especially in Uva-Wellassa. Keppetipola Dissawa was caught and beheaded.

According to the Crown Lands Ordinance and Waste Lands Ordinance, Sri Lankans lost their inherited land. According to records, nearly 1.3 million acres of land were confiscated by the British. Such lands gained forcibly were sold to British planters to start coffee cultivation. When coffee was destroyed by the blight, the British started growing tea and by the mid-19th century, Ceylon Tea had become popular in the British market, bringing great wealth to a small class of white tea planters. The British realised that the highlands of Sri Lanka were suited for coffee, tea and rubber cultivations and got the farmer community out of them, also bringing a death trap to Sri Lanka's valuable fauna and flora.

Rebel leaders

Led by Kadahapola Unnanse, a Bhikkhu, the second rebellion started in the Matale region and was joined by two young men, namely Francis Fernando from Moratuwa and Don David from Peliyagoda. They became famous as Weera Puran Appu and Gongalegoda Banda. Facing British reinforcements and firepower, their struggle with guerilla tactics failed and eventually the leaders were executed. They are still living heroes for patriotic Sri Lankans.

D.S. Senanayake at the planting of a mango sapling to mark the historic occasion

Though the Portuguese first invaded our country, followed by the Dutch, it was the British who heavily changed Sri Lanka's economic, legal, political and social background. Two segments could be seen in the latter part of Sri Lankan's freedom struggle - the Constitutionalists and the rebellious groups.

The Constitutionalists group comprised stalwarts of Sri Lanka's political history such as D.S. Senanayake, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, N.M. Perera, Philip Gunawardena, Robert Gunawardena, Dr. S.A. Wickramasinghe, Ponnambalam brothers and T.B. Jayah along with other less radical members such as Natesa Iyer and D.A. Rajapaksa.

Patriotic citizens from all ethnicities joined hands to regain Sri Lanka's lost independence. Educationists, politicians and citizens of different ethnic groups were heavily involved in the freedom struggle. Hundreds of Ceylonese were arrested by the British colonial government during the riots of 1915.

Those who faced imprisonment without charges included prominent figures of the independence movement such as F.R. Senanayake, D.S. Senanayake, Anagarika Dharmapala, Dr. C.A. Hewavitarne, Captain Henry Pedris, D.C. Senanayake, Baron Jayatilaka, Edwin Wijeyeratne, W.A. de Silva, Arthur V. Dias, John Silva, Piyadasa Sirisena and A.E. Goonesinghe.

Political independence

Sri Lankans' struggle to gain political independence from the British paved the way for the Donoughmore Commission reforms to take place in 1931 followed by the Soulbury Commission recommendations. The Soulbury Commission was the most important result of the agitation for constitutional reforms in the 1930s.

British rule in Sri Lanka started under King George III (1815-1820) and continued under eight monarchs. Sri Lanka was ruled by George IV (1820-1830), William IV (1830-1837), Queen Victoria (1837-1901), Edward VII (1901-1910), George V (1910-1936), Edward VIII in 1936 and George VI from 1936.

Edward VIII abdicated the British Throne in favour of his love for Mrs. Wallis Simpson. On February 4, 1948 Sri Lanka regained political freedom from British Imperialism when King George VI sent his brother, the Duke of Gloucester as his representative to transfer power to locals.

In 1952, Queen Elizabeth II ascended the British Throne.

Sri Lanka was not the only Asian country that regained freedom from the British during the period 1947 and 1948. India and Myanmar (then Burma) started progressing rapidly following their newly won freedom. Myanmar, in particular, had sent out all non-nationals living there as illegal immigrants.

A few remains of the colonial era still linger around us. We still retain many beneficial characteristics of that era. For instance, English has been retained as a medium of instruction in schools as it was in the immediate post-independent era. Cricket has been the most popular sport of the country irrespective of ethnicity or religion. As Brigham Young once said, true independence and freedom can only exist in doing what's right.

Republic status

Sri Lanka shed its Dominion coat in 1972 and became a Republic. The Senate was abolished and Sinhala was established as the official language with Tamil as a second language. Appeals to the British Privy Council were abolished. Colonial plantations were nationalised.

Pioneers of Sri Lanka's freedom movement

Gloomy days followed under the JVP insurrection in 1971 and later with the emergence of LTTE terrorism in the North. A new constitution was introduced in 1978 which drastically altered the nature of governance in Sri Lanka. It replaced the previous Westminster style parliamentary government with a new presidential system modelled after that of France, with a powerful chief executive.

The President was to be elected by direct suffrage for a six-year term and was empowered to appoint, with Parliamentary approval, the Prime Minister and to preside over Cabinet meetings. J.R. Jayewardene became the first Executive President under the new Constitution.

It would be worth recalling that at the time of Independence in 1948, we were economically well ahead in the Asian region which prompted even a prime minister in the region to recommend that his country follow our model. The present Government, committed as it is to development, has taken vast strides in this regard.

Spiritual advancement must go hand in hand with such material development to create a virtue-loving society. The Government has spearheaded a campaign to materialise this objective, converting them to a civilised society. The President's Mathata Thitha concept is one such step.

Today, this new-found unity, a result of eradicating terrorism from our motherland, has opened the doors to the true potential of the country. Every Sri Lankan must do his/her part to lift the country out of its gloomy past. It is hoped that the fresh beginning would galvanise each citizen to do more during this second and most decisive phase of our Independence.

http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2011/01/30/imp01.asp

මුස්ලිමුන් අද දෙමළ කතා කරන්නේ ඇයි ?

මුස්ලිම් ආගමට හැරුණු හින්දු තරුණයෙක්ගේ විවාහ උත්සවයක් 

භූගෝල විද්‍යාව යටතේ ඉගැන් වූ පාඩමක් වූයේ ‘‘කාන්තාරවාසීන්’’
යන්නය. මෙම කාන්තාරවාසීන් නම් අරාබින් (මුස්ලිම්* ප‍්‍රමුඛ
ඉස්ලාමිකයන්ය.

ගස්කොළන් නොවැවෙන මෙම පරිසරවාසීන් ආදියේ සිටම සතුන්
මරාගෙන කෑම, කොල්ල කෑම හා ආක‍්‍රමණය, වහල් සේවය
ගොඩබිම හා මුහුදු වෙළඳාම, අශ්වයන් හා ඔටුවන් ඇති කිරීම ආදිය
කළහ

.
7 වැනි සියවසේ දී පහළ වූ නබිනායකතුමා (අරාබියේ* ඉස්ලාමය
දේශනා කළ විට මුළු අරාබිකරයේ ගෝත‍්‍ර සියල්ල (සත්ව පාලන -
එඩේර ගෝත‍්‍ර) ආගම යට‍තේ එක්සත් වූහ. එක්සත් වූ මෙම
ඉස්ලාමිකයන් යුධ දක්‍ෂයන් හා කොල්ලකරුවන් වීම නිසා කුරාණය
ඊට ප‍්‍රබලව අනුබල දීම නිසාත්, හාත්පස ලෝකය ආක‍්‍රමණය
කරන්නට හා කොල්ලකන්නට වූහ.

මැද පෙරදිග අරාබි - ඉස්ලාම් බලය ව්‍යාප්ත වූ පසු යුරෝපයේ
තුර්කියට හා 10 සියවසේ දී ඉන්දියාවේ වයඹ දිගට ද පැතිරුණහ
මුළු මහත් භාරතයම මුස්ලිම් ආධිපත්‍යයට (දිල්ලි සුල්තාන්) යටත් වී
12 වන විට අලා - උද්දීන් - ඛල්ජි විසින් චෝල, පාණ්ඩ්‍ය හා කේරළ
දේශයන් දක්වා තම ආධිපත්‍යය පැතිරුව ද ලංකාව කරා එම ආක‍්‍රමණ
ඒම සිදු නොවීය.

අරාබි ආගම වූ ඉස්ලාමය වැදගත් සියළු දෙනා අරාබි ජාතිකත්වය වන
‘මුස්ලිම්’’ යන්න භාවිතා කළහ. ඊට පළමුව අරාබියේ විසූ අය
පමණක් අරාබි වූහ. මුස්ලිම් යනුවෙන් ජාතිකත්වයක් නොවූහ.
මුස්ලිම්වරු මෙරට වෙළඳ විදේශිකයන් ලෙසටය. අනුරාධපුර යුගයේ
පටන් අරාබි වෙළඳුන් ලංකාවේ වෙළඳ කටයුතු කළ ද ඔවුහු පූර්ණ
විදේශික වෙළඳුන් ලෙස මාතොට, යාපා පටුන, ගෝකණ්ණ, මද්ද
කලාපය (මඩකලපුව), හම්බන්තොට යන ප‍්‍රධාන වරායන් ආශ‍්‍රිතව
තාවකාලිකව නැවතී සිටියහ. ඔවුනගේ අඹු දරුවන් අරාබියේ වූහ. අප
නිරිත දිග තෙත් කලාපයේ කෝට්ටේ අගනුවර කර ගැනීම සමග
කුරුඳු, ගම්මිරිස්, පුවක්, පොල්තෙල් ආදී වෙළඳ ද්‍රව්‍ය වැදගත් විය.

ගාල්ල, බේරුවල, කොළඹ, මීගමුව, හලාවත ආදී අළුත් වරාය
ජනාවාසයන් ද බිහි විය. මෙරට වරායන්හි වූයේ දකුණු ඉන්දියානු
දෙමළ වෙළඳුන් නොව මුස්ලිම් වෙළඳුන්ය. ‘‘සැමොරින්’’ ඔවුනගේ
නායකයා විය. මෙකල වෙළඳාම් කිරීමට තුවක්කුව අවශ්‍ය වූයේ
තුවක්කු ඇති පෘතුගීසීන් ද මෙම කලාපයේ වෙළඳාම අවතීර්ණ වූ
නිසාය.

මුස්ලිම්වරු සිංහල රජුන්ගේ සරණ පැතීම :-

පළමුවෙන් පෘතුගීසීන් සමගත්, දෙවනුව ලන්දේසීන් සමගත් ගැටීමට
මෙරට සිටි මුස්ලිම් වෙළඳුන්ට සිදු විය. ඊට හේතුව නම් පෘතුගීසීන් හා
ලන්දේසීන් හුදෙක් වෙළඳාමට ලංකාවට එ්ම හා මුස්ලිම් වෙළඳුන්
වෙළඳාමේ යෙදී සිටි වරායන් ආශ‍්‍රිතව වෙරළබඩ ඔවුනේග
ආධිපත්‍යය ද පිහිටු වී නිසාය. 16 වැනි සියවස අග දී I විමලධර්මසූරිය
රජුනගෙන් ඇරඹුනු උඩරට රාජ්‍යයත්වය තුළ සිංහල රජු බලවත් හා
ආරක්‍ෂිත පාලකයෙක් විය. පළමුව පෘතුගීසීන්ගෙනුත්, පසුව
ලන්දේසීන්ගෙනුත් සිදු වූ අතරවයන් නිසා උඩරට රජු වෙත සරණ පතා
ගිය මුස්ලිම්වරුන්ට රජු විසින් සරණ සපයන ලදි. යුධ කටයුතුවල දක්‍ෂ
අයට රජුගේ හමුදාවල සේවය ලැබුණි. සෙසු අය ගොවිතැන් බත්
කරගෙන ගමෙහි ජීවත් වීමේ ප‍්‍රතිඥාව පිට පදිංචි කරන ලද අතර,
උඩරැටියන්ට අවශ්‍ය රෙදිපිළි, ලූණු, ගම්මිරිස් හා කරවල ආදිය
වෙළඳාම් කිරීමට ද අවස්ථාව ලබා දුනි. උඩරට රජුගේ ජා හමුදාව හා
මැලේ හමුදාව මෙසේ සකස්වින. මේ සියළු දෙනා 1815 දී ඉංග‍්‍රීසීන්
විසින් මුළු රට අත්පත් කර ගැනීමට ප‍්‍රථම සිංහල කතා කරමින් සිංහල
ජන ජීවිතයට අන්තර් ග‍්‍රහණය වී සෙනරත් රජු විසින් තමා වෙත පලා
ආ මුස්ලිම් වෙළඳුන් 400 ක් නැගෙනහිර පළාතෙහි පදිංචි කරවන
ලද්දේ ද උඩරට පදිංචි කර වූ කොන්දේසි මතමය.

එම කොන්දේසි නම්,

01. මෙම අය සිංහල කතා කරන්නන් වී සිංහල ස්ත‍්‍රීන් හා විවාහ විය
යුතුය.

02. මෙරට නිෂ්පාදන රටාව වන ගොඩමට ගොවිතැන් වවාගෙන කෑ
යුතුය.

03. ඔවුන්ට උපදින දරුවන් මෙරට සංස්කෘතියට අනුව ඇතිදැඩි කළ
යුතුය.

එබැවින් වර්තමානයේ සිටින දෙමළ කතා කරන මුස්ලිමුන් කිසිම
අයුරකින් උඩරට රජු විසින් රට තුළ පදිංචි කර වූ අය නොවේ. ඉහත
කී මුස්ලිම්වරු ඉහත කොන්දේසිවලට යටත් ඔවුන් සිංහල කතා කරන
බුද්ධාගම වැළඳ ගත් සිංහලයන් බවට පත්විය.

මුස්ලිමුන් අද දෙමළ කතා කරන්නේ ඇයි ?

1832 කෝල්බෲක් කොමිසමේ වාර්තාවට අනුව දැකිය හැක්කේ
කැප්ටන් ස්නයිඩර් (පසුව මේජර්* විසින් කොමිසම හමුවට ඉදිරිපත්
කරන ලද සන්දේශයයි. එකී කියැවෙන පරිදි 1820 පටන් ඔහු
පළමුව කොළඹ - නුවර පාර ලකුණු කිරීමටත් ඉන්පසු පාර සෑදීමටත්
මුල් වූ ප‍්‍රධාන ඉංජිනේරුවෙකි. යුද හමුදා ඉංජිනේරුවරයෙකු ව ඔහු
තම අත්දැකීම් විස්තර කරයි. උඩරැටියන් පාරේ කුලී වැඩ කිරීමට
අකමැති වූයේ ඔවුන්ගේ ඉඩම් කොල්ල කා එමෙන්ම 1818 දී එ්වා
ගිනි තබා විනාශ කරන ලද ඉංග‍්‍රීසි පාලකයන් යටතේ වැඩ කිරීමට
ඇති අකමැත්ත නිසාත්, සිංහලයන් ඉතා පෞඪ ජාතියක් වූ නිසාත්ය.
එබැවින් චෝල, පාණ්ඩ්‍ය, කෝරළ යන දකුණු ඉන්දියානු රටවලින්
කුලීකරුවන් ‘‘දක්කාගෙන’’ ආහ මදී පාඩුවට ඕර්මුස්, එ්ඞ්න්,
යේමන්, මලක්කා, ජාවා යන රටවලින් විවිධ භාෂා කත කරන
ඉස්ලාම් ආගමිකයන් ද (මුස්ලිම්) ගෙන ආහ. පාරේ කුලී වැඩ කිරීමේ
පහසුව තකා මෙම විවිධ ඉස්ලාමිකයන් ද, ස්නයිඩර් හැඳින් වූ පාරේ
භාෂාව වූ ‘‘දෙමළ බස’’ කතා කිරීමට පුරුදු වූ සැටි කැප්ටන් ස්නයිඩර්
විස්තර කර ඇත. මේ ඔහුගේ පාලනය යටතේ පාර ඉදි කිරීමේ
කම්කරුවන් තුළ සිදු වූ සමාජ වෙනසකි.

මෙසේ දෙමළ බස කතා කරන මුස්ලිමුන් යනු පාරේ වැඩට ඉංග‍්‍රීසීන්
විසින් ගෙනා කුලීකරුවන්ගෙන් පැවතෙන අය වෙති. මහා මාර්ග හා
මුස්ලිමුන් පාරවල් ඇති වීම සමග සිංහල මිනිසුන් ගොවිතැන්
ක‍්‍රමයෙන් ඉවත් වූහ. ගමෙන් ඉවත් වී පාරවල් අයින පදිංචියට ආහ.
පාරවල් එකතු වන මංසන්ධිවල නගර ඇති විය. සිල්ලර කඩ හා
කෝපි කඩ ඇති වුණි.

මේ අතරතුර 1832 දී කෝල්බෲක් නිර්දේශයක් වුනේ සිංහල
නොවන ජන කොටස් මෙරට තුළ ඇති කර වර්ධනය වන්නට
හැරීමය. සමාජය බෙදීම ඔහුගේ අරමුණ විය. මේ අධිරාජ්‍ය
ප‍්‍රතිපත්තියයි.

අවුරුදු 15 ගිවිසුම් මත (කුලී වැඩ කොන්ත‍්‍රාත්* මහා පරිමාණයෙන්
1820 දී ගෙන ආ පළමු කුලීකරුවන් පිරිස 1835 දී සේවය අවසන්
කර (විශ‍්‍රාම ගන්වා) ආපසු තම රටට යැවීම ගිවිසුමේ සඳහන් වුව ද
එය වෙනස් කර කෝල්බෲක් නිර්දේශ 1833 පටන් ක‍්‍රියාත්මක වූහ.
පළමු වැනි දෙමළ කම්කරු පිරිස් උතුරේ යාපනය අර්ධ ද්වීපයේ දී
මුස්ලිම් කම්කරු පිරිස නැගෙනහිර පළාතේ පදිංචි කරවන ලදි. දැන්
මෙම අළුත් පිරිස් දෙක බි‍්‍රතාන්‍ය අධිරාජ්‍යයේ යටත් වැසියන් වූහ.
සිංහලයින් ද අධිරාජ්‍යයේ යටත් වැසියන් වූ නිසා රට තුළ දෙමල හා
මුස්ලිම් යන අධිරාජ්‍ය යටත්ාවසී වර්ග දෙකක් ද 1835 සිට ඇරඹුණි.
එබැවින් මුස්ලිම්වරුන් සහ දෙමළ ජනතාව 1835 දී බි‍්‍රතාන්‍යය
අධිරාජ්‍යය විසින් මෙරට ඇති කරන ලදි. මහා මාර්ග හා මුස්ලිම්
වෙළඳ කටයුතු ලංකාව නැමැති සරුසාරවත් රට තුළ නිදහසේ ගමන්
කිරීමට හා වෙළඳාම් කිරීමට මෙසේ පදිංචි කරවන ලද විශ‍්‍රාමික
මුස්ලිමුන්ට හැකි විය.

මේ වනවිට රට පුරා පාරවල ඉදිවෙමින් පැවතුණි. වෙළඳාම පමණක්
හුරුපුරුදු වූ ගොවිතැන් නොදත් මුස්ලිම් මාර්ග කම්කරුවන්ගේ ඊළග
පරම්පරාව 1850 පමණ වනවිට රට තුළ සංචාරක වෙළඳුන් වූහ.
පොට්ටනිය හිස තබා ගත් සංචාරක මුස්ලිම් වෙළඳුන් ගැන ගැමි
කතාන්තර බහුලය. ‘‘සයිබු නානා’’ රෙදි වෙළෙන්ඳා සම්බන්ධ කතා
පන්තිය මෙය මුස්ලිම් ක‍්‍රියාකාරීත්වය විදහා දක්වන කැටපතකි.
කපටිකම් හා වංචාව ඔවුන්ගේ ලාභ ලැබීමේ මූල ධර්ම විය.
පාරවල් හොඳින් සෑදී තිබූ 19 වන සියවස අවසන් වන විට
මංසන්ධිවල ‘‘තම්බි කඩ’’ ඇතිවීම ද සිදුවිය. ඔවුහු ගැමියන්ට ණයට
මුදල් දීමත් ණයට බඩු ලබාදීමත් කර ගණන් වැඩියෙන් ලියා අධික
ලාභ ලැබූහ. සංචාරක මුස්ලිම් පොට්ටනිකාරයා හා තම්බි කඩය හිමි
තම්බි මුදලාලි 20 වන සියවස ඇරඹෙන විට ලංකාව පුරා පැතිරී
සිටියහ.

පසුගිය අවුරුදු 10 - 20 අතර කාලයේ දී මෙම තම්බි
සංචාරක වෙළඳුන් අප සමාජයේ දැකිය හැකි වූ අතර, අදටත්
‘‘බොම්බයි මොටයි’’ කරුවන් අප සමාජයේ සංචාරක වෙළඳුන් ලෙස
මෙම මුස්ලිම්වරු ක‍්‍රියාත්මක වේ.

මුස්ලිම්වරු ව්‍යාජ ඉතිහාසයක් ගොඩනැගීම මින් වසර 20 ට පමණ
පෙර ඉතිහාසය මහාචාර්යවරියක ලක්‍ෂ 12 ක් ගෙවා ලංකාවේ ව්‍යාජ
මුස්ලිම් ඉතිහාස ග‍්‍රන්ථයක් ලියවා පළ කර තිබුණි.

එහි කියැවෙන අයුරු ලංකවේ මුස්ලිම් ජනාවාස අවුරුදු 1,000 ක්
පැරණිය. එනම්, ක‍්‍රි. ව. නවසිය ගණන් දක්වාය. මේ සැස්නි
මොහොමඞ් විසින් වයඹ දිග ඉන්දියාවේ කාබුල් ප‍්‍රේදශය ආක‍්‍රමනය
කර සැස්නියේ මුස්ලිම් පාලනයක් පිහිට වූ ආදිම වකවානුවයි. මේ
ආක‍්‍රමනය ලංකාවට ද ව්‍යාජ ලෙස සම්බන්ධ කර දැක්වීම එම
ග‍්‍රන්ථයේ ඇතුළත්ය. ප‍්‍රධාන වරායන් ආශ‍්‍රිතව අරාබි වෙළඳුන් තම
සුපුරුදු විදේශ වෙළඳ තත්ත්වයන් තාවකාලිකව නතර වී වෙළඳ
කටයුතු කරගනෙ යාම පමණක් මෙකල සිදු විය. සෙනරත් රජු විසින්
මඩකලපුව අසළ පදිංචි කර වූ මුස්ලිමුන් 400 සිංහල කාන්තාවන් හා
විවාහ වීමෙන් වත්මන් මුස්ලිමුන් ඇති විය යන අද මුස්ලිම්
දේශපාලනඥයන්ගේ කියුම ද අමූලික බොරුවකි.

ඊළාම්වාදීන් මෙන්ම තම ආක‍්‍රමණ ප‍්‍රතිපත්තිය ව්‍යාජ ඉතිහාසයක්
තුළින් සනාථ කිරීමට අද මුස්ලිම් ආක‍්‍රමණිකයන් උත්සාහ ගනිති.
නමුත් සැබෑ ඉතිහාසය විසින් දක්වන්නේ 19 සියවස අග රටතුළ ඇති
වූ මාර්ග පද්ධතිය සමගින් මුස්ලිම් වෙළඳ කටයුතු රට පුරා පැතිරුන
බවය.

එබැවින් මුස්ලිම්වරුන්ට, මෙම රට තුළ කිසිඳු අයිතියක්
නොමැත. -

උපුටා ගැනීම - ආචාර්ය සූරිය ගුණසේකර. හෙළ ගුප්ත ඖෂධවේදී

ඔබටම මෙය කියවීමෙන් වැටහෙනු ඇත සත්‍ය ....මේ සත්‍ය අනෙකුත් නොදන්නා අයටද ලබා දෙන්න

අවදිවව් සිහළුනේ.... අවදිවව් නොනිදා
කප් සුවහස් කල් වොරැඳි තුන් සිංහලේ
රකින්නට සිත අවි දරා
රකින්නට අත වෙර දරා
අවදිවව් සිහළුනේ.... අවදිවව් නොනිදා
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History of Islam in Sri Lanka

Islam in Sri Lanka is practiced by a group of minorities. The Muslim community is divided into three main ethnic groups: the Sri Lankan Moors, the Indian Muslims, and the Malays, each with its own history and traditions. The attitude among the majority of people in Sri Lanka is to use the term '"Muslim" as an ethnic group, specifically when referring to Sri Lankan Moors. History of Islam in Sri Lanka

With the arrival of Arab and Somali traders in the 8th century, Islam began to flourish in Sri Lanka. The first people to profess the Islamic faith were Arab and Somali merchants and their native wives, whom they married after converting to Islam. By the 15th century, Arab traders had controlled much of the trade on the Indian Ocean, including that of Sri Lanka's. Many of them settled down on the island in large numbers, encouraging the spread of Islam. However, when the Portuguese arrived during the 16th century, many of their descendants- the Sri Lankan Moors- were persecuted, thus forcing them to migrate to the Central Highlands and to the east coast of the country.

During 18th and 19th centuries, Javanese and Malaysian Muslims bought over by the Dutch and British rulers contributed to the growing Muslim population in Sri Lanka. Their descendants, now the Sri Lankan Malays, adapted several Sri Lankan Moor Islamic traditions while also contributing their unique cultural Islamic practices to other Muslim groups on the Island. The arrival of Muslims from India during the 19th and 20th centuries has also contributed to the growth of Islam in Sri Lanka. Most notably, Pakistani and South Indian Muslims have introduced Shia Islam and the Hanafi school of thought into Sri Lanka, however although most Muslims on the island still adhere to the traditional practices of Sunni Islam. In modern times, Muslims in Sri Lanka are handled by the Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs Department, which was established in the 1980s to prevent the continual isolation of the Muslim community from the rest of Sri Lanka. Today, about 10% of Sri Lankans adhere to Islam; and there are approximately 5,000 mosques, with every mosque having a committee to look after the community affairs. Muslims of Sri lanka, mostly from the Moor and Malay ethnic communities on the island with smaller numbers of converts from other ethnicities, such as the Sinhalese. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was established in Sri Lanka in 1915. But the other Muslim Communities consider Ahmadiyya as a separate non-Muslim religion. Sri Lankan Moors

The Sri Lankan Moors make up almost 92% of the Muslim population and 9.23% of the total population of the country. They are predominantly Sunni Muslims of Shafi School. The Moors trace their ancestry to Arab traders who settled in Sri Lanka sometime between the eighth and fifteenth centuries. The Arabic language brought by the early merchants is no longer spoken, though various Arabic words and phrases are still employed in daily usage. Until the recent past, the Moors employed Arwi as their mother tongue, though this is also extinct as a spoken language. Currently, the Moors in the east of Sri Lanka use Tamil as their primary language which includes many loan words from Arabic. Moors in the west coast are fluent in Sinhala, an Indo-European language spoken by the Sinhalese majority in Sri Lanka, but use English within the community. Thus, the Moors are a multilingual ethnic and religious group, lacking linguistic cohesion.

The Sri Lankan Moors lived primarily in coastal trading and agricultural communities, preserving their Islamic cultural heritage while adopting many Southern Asian customs. During the period of Portuguese colonization, the Moors suffered from persecution, and many moved to the Central Highlands, where their descendants remain. Education There are 749 Muslim Schools in Sri Lanka and 205 madras’s which teaching Islamic Education, and there is an Islamic university in Beruwala (Jamiya Naleemiya). In early 20th century there are few Muslim professionals in Accounts, Medical, Engineering, etc. But at present they are exceeding the national average. Due to lack of opportunity in Sri Lanka, many Muslim professionals are migrating to get jobs abroad, such as the Middle East, United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe. East Coast Moors On the eastern province of the country Muslims are predominant. East coast, Sri Lankan Moors are primarily farmers, fishermen, and traders. Their family lines are traced through women, as in kinship systems of the southwest Indian state of Kerala, but they govern themselves through Islamic law. West Coast Moors

Many moors in the west of the island are traders, professionals or civil servants and are mainly concentrated in Colombo, Kalutara and Beruwala. Moors in Puttlam and Mannar predominantly make a living as prawn farmers, and fishermen. Moors in the west coast trace their family lines through their father. Along with those in the Central Province, the surname of many Moors in Colombo, Kalutara and Puttlam is their fathers first name, thus retaining similarity to the traditional Arab and middle eastern kinship system. The Malays of Sri Lanka originated in Southeast Asia and today consist of about 50,000 persons. Their ancestors came to the country when both Sri Lanka and Indonesia were colonies of the Dutch. Most of the early Malay immigrants were soldiers, posted by the Dutch colonial administration to Sri Lanka, who decided to settle on the island.

Other immigrants were convicts or members of noble houses from Indonesia who were exiled to Sri Lanka and who never left. The main source of a continuing Malay identity is their common Malay language (Bahasa Melayu), which includes numerous words absorbed from Sinhalese and the Moorish variant of the Tamil language. In the 1980s, the Malays made up about 5 % of the Muslim population in Sri Lanka and, like the Moors, predominantly follow the Shafi school of thought within Sunni Islam. Indian Muslims (Memons, Bhoras, Khojas) The Indian Muslims are those who trace their origins to immigrants searching for business opportunities during the colonial period. Some of these people came to the country as far back as Portuguese times; others arrived during the British period from various parts of India. Majority of them came from Tamil Nadu and Kerala states, and unlike the Sri Lankan Moors, are ethnically related to South Indians and number approximately 30,000. The Memons, originally from Sindh (in modern Pakistan), first arrived in 1870; in the 1980s they numbered only about 3,000, they mostly follow the Hanafi Sunni school of Islam. The Dawoodi Bhoras and the Khojas are Shia Muslims came from north-western India (Gujarat state) after 1880; in the 1980s they collectively numbered fewer than 2,000. These groups tended to retain their own places of worship and the languages of their ancestral homelands. http://www.srilankaheritages.com/islam.html

Marakkala: the Sri Lankan Moors

By Dr. S. K. Vadivale

www.tamilnet.com

The Arabs who came for trade did not settle down in Ceylon. They were in fact a floating population along the Western and Southern coasts. On seeing the Portuguese they got so scared that they left their lucrative trade, their wives/concubines and children to the mercy of the Portuguese and fled, swearing not to come back. Yes, to this day they have not come back.

From 1311 to 1330, under orders from Ala-u-din, the Sultan of Delhi, Makik Kaffoor, Ghiyathu-d-din Dhamaghani, Khusuru Khan and other generals, demolished and devastated Hindu temples in the South and carried away the loot (gold, silver etc) to Delhi. The Southern region however, did not go under Muslim rule until 1330. In 1380 a powerful Tamil King, Kumara Kampan attacked the Muslim ruler Sikander, killed him in battle and drove the Muslim army out of Tamil country. As in the North, in the South too, Muslim conquerors, at the point of the sword, compelled Hindus, Jains and Buddhists to embrace Islam.
(Ref: History of India by Elliot, History of Tamil Nadu by Pro. N. Subramaniam).

It may be interesting to observe that while Christian missionaries converted non-Christians all over the world by persuasion, Muslim conquerors converted people of other faiths to Islam, at the point of the sword. With the fall of Muslim rule in the South in 1380, there was a renaissance among the Hindus and in the latter part of the 14th century, the converts were prosecuted until they fled the Tamil country in Marak Kalams (Wooden Boats) and landed on the coasts of Ceylon. Because they came in Marak Kalams the Sinhala people called them Marakkala Minissu. Yes, to this day, the Sinhalese call them Marakkala Minissu. Tamils in South India and Sri Lanka call them Sonahars, (Ref: Yarlpana Vaipava Malai 1736 by Mailvaganar Pulavar).

Arabs came to Ceylon in the 15th century not as conquerors or missionaries but as traders. The Arabs, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British did not bring their women folk with them. It is surprising that while the Europeans had taken Sinhala and Tamil women as wives/concubines, the Arabs had taken only Tamil women for their comfort and pleasure. That is, I believe the reason why there are no Sinhala Muslims in Sri Lanka. The reason why the Arabs were not interested in Sinhala women is not far to seek. The Arabs were keen on having as their companions only women who professed Islam.

Arabs would not have come to Ceylon in thousands. A couple of hundreds would have come with each expedition at intervals of say 12 to 24 months or so. The Arab factor would not therefore, have altered the ethnic or demographic pattern of the Tamil Muslims who had come from Tamil Nadu in the 14th century.
The Portuguese came to Ceylon in the 16th century as conquerors. They dubbed the Tamil Muslims `Moors', because as in Morocco, the Muslim of Portugal and Spain were called Moors. (Ref: The Story of Lanka by E. L. Blaze).

(a) Whereas the descendants of the Europeans (the Burghers) resemble their forefathers very closely, the Tamil-speaking Muslims who vociferously claim to be descendants of Arabs, do not have the slightest resemblance to an Arab in stature or complexion.
(b) The mother tongue of the Muslims is Tamil.
(c) The Muslims bear Tamil names e.g. Periya Marikkar, Sinna Lebbe, Pitchai Thamby, Hajira Ammah, Razeena Amma, etc.
(d) Unlike Arab women, local Muslim women bore their noses and put studs, use anklets and gold jewellery.
(e) Adult women wear sarees while teenagers wear Paa Vadai and Thaavani.
(f) Brothers' and sisters' children marry as first choice.
(g) The bride is given dowry which is contrary to Muslim Law. A Pakistani who was in Sri Lanka last year for Thableeq, condemned the dowry system practised by local Muslims.
(h) The bride-groom puts a Thali round the neck of the bride. This custom prevails only among Tamil Muslims and Tamil Christians of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.
(i) In local Muslim houses Gingelly oil is included in the diet of girls who have attained maidenhood.
(j) Muslim physicians of Ceylon brought their medical literature from Kayal Pattanam in Tamil Nadu. (Ref: Avicenna 1967. Journal of the Unani Medical Students Union.)
(k) Tamil Nadu-type houses can still be seen in Muslim colonies of Mannar, Puttalam and Jaffna.

Muslims of Northern India belong to the Aryan stock, and are by ethnicity Rajputs, Gujeratis, Maharashtras, Punjabis, Kashmiris etc.. The inhabitants of West Bengal, Bangladesh and Orissa do not claim to be Aryans. They are Mongoloid Dravidians. The indigenous Muslims of Andhra, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil-Nadu, Maldives and Sri Lanka are Dravidians to the core. Sir P. Ramanathan, a scholar and statesman of international repute asserted in unequivocal terms that the Muslims of Ceylon were Tamils by ethnicity. Ethnicity does not change with change of faith. Ethnicity cannot be changed by Cabinet decisions or with the stroke of the pen. Can a leopard change its spots?

The name `Yawanas' first used to denote foreigners, was derived from the word Ionians (Greeks), with whom the Hindus first became acquainted. In the ancient Sanskrit and Tamil period, it denoted the Greeks but in subsequent times when the Greeks were succeeded by the Mohamedans, it was the Mohamedans who were denoted by that name. In later Sanskrit of the Vishnu Purana, we are to understand by Yavanas, not the Greeks but the Mohamadans.

The word Sonahars by which the Mohamadans are known in Tamil Nadu is merely a corruption of the Sanskrit word `Yavanas' Ref: Tamil Studies by M. Srinivasa. The words, Mohamedians, Muslims, Moors, Yonahars, (Sonahars) are synonyms for those professing Islam, irrespective of the ethnicity to which they belong. The sonahars of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka Tamils by ethnicity.

In the late 1950s, the late Gate Mudaliyar Kariapper, while addressing voters of the Eastern Province in support of the Federal Party, said ``None can dispute the fact that Tamil speaking Muslims of Ceylon are descendants of Tamil Hindus who embraced Islam in the latter part of the 14th century when South India was under Muslim rule. It is only religion that divides the Tamils and Muslims. By ethnicity Tamils and Muslims are one''.
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http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/marakkala.html